PUTRAJAYA, June 10 — The Court of Appeal today allowed an application by former policeman Sirul Azhar Umar to appeal his conviction for the 2006 murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu on the grounds that there has been a mistrial.
Sirul’s lawyer Kamarul Hashim said they are now seeking a declaration of the 2009 decision as a mistrial based on two new and related grounds, namely the adverse publicity and the danger that the High Court judge’s impartiality was affected by the said publicity.
“We have brought in an application this morning. That application is to include two new grounds in the petition of appeal.
“The court has allowed the application,” he told reporters when met outside the courtroom.
Kamarul said he will be filing the application by tomorrow.
He also clarified that the other appellant Azilah Hadri was not part of this application and had not made a similar application to introduce these grounds.
The three-day appeal hearing initially set to begin from today has been postponed to June 24.
On October 31, 2008, the Shah Alam High Court acquitted former political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda of abetting them in the murder, following the prosecution’s failure to establish a prima facie case against him.
On April 9, 2009, Sirul Azhar and Azilah were convicted and sentenced to death by the same xourt for the murder of Altantuya at Mukim Bukit Raja, Shah Alam between October 19 and October 20, 2006.
The duo, who were then with the Bukit Aman Special Action Squad, had previously been charged under Section 149 of the Penal Code, which carries a mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
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